Hockey, Baseball, and Non-Sports Cards

Main menu

Post navigation

The Sinking of the Panay

I’m reading Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, a sci-fi, alternate history novel about Nazi Germany and the Axis Powers win World War II. One of the protagonists, Robert Childan, owns an antique store. Early in the book, a character inquires about a trading card:

“I will give you an example,” the major had said. “Do you know what is meant by “Horrors of War’ cards?” He had eyed Chidan with avidity.

Searching his memory, Childan had at last recalled. The cards had been dispensed, during his childhood, with bubble gum. A cent apiece. There had been a series of them, each card depicting a different horror.

“A dear friend of mine,” the major had gone on, “collects ‘Horrors of War.’ He lacks but one, now. The Sinking of the Panay. He has offered a substantial sum of money for that particular card.”

The card and the set exist! Released in 1938, Horrors of War feature cartoons of varies dictators and atrocities. The dark, clean lines and smaller dimensions give these cards a real Bowman feel. Below is a scan, borrowed from here.